What exactly are dentures?
Dentures are removable false teeth that come with a host of benefits, including helping to improve how you eat and speak, as well as boosting your confidence by restoring your smile. They can also enhance facial shape, especially around the lips and in the cheek area. You can either have partial dentures for a few missing teeth or full dentures to replace a whole set of teeth on the upper or lower jaw.
They are usually made from acrylic, or a combination of acrylic and metal, and modern materials mean that partial dentures will blend in beautifully with existing teeth and complete dentures can pass for the real thing.
Benefits
- Natural-looking appearance
- Can enhance facial shape
- Can improve eating and speaking ability
- An effective and affordable way to restore your smile
What is involved in the treatment?
Making and fitting dentures can be quite an involved process so you may have to attend several appointments to ensure the final set of dentures are a secure and comfy fit.
- Following a comprehensive consultation, impressions of your mouth will be taken so a wax model can be produced and checked for fit, bite and comfort.
- A final set of dentures will be manufactured in a laboratory and, when ready, you will be invited in for a fitting.
- If you are having complete dentures, these will be fitted in the top or bottom of your mouth. This complete denture will consist of a gum coloured arch with a set of prosthetic teeth attached. Partial dentures will be used if you only have one or a few missing teeth and may be held in place with metal hooks attached to existing teeth.
- When you have tried out your dentures for a week or so, you will be invited back for a review appointment to check they still fit properly and remain fully functional.
Why choose a bridge?
There are three main reasons:
- When missing teeth aren’t replaced, greater strain is placed on neighbouring teeth
- Your ‘bite’ could be affected by missing teeth, making eating or speaking more difficult
- Teeth either side of a gap sometimes lean in to each other which can badly affect the appearance of your smile or bite.
